Afternoon in Pasadena

Last weekend Jake and I went to Pasadena for the sunny afternoon. It was my first time there and I loved old town! We stopped for lunch at Brothers' Pies n' Fries and had the BEST pizza ever. Their pizzas are huge and they also serve 4 different kinds of fries. The brothers were actually the ones making the pizza and we met one of their wives who took our order. They were all so nice, offering us samples, so we promised them we would be back soon!

Next we stopped by the Huntington Library and botanical gardens. Unfortunately, due to the fact that it is COLD and winter in Southern California, most of the flowers and plants were dead. The rose garden was more like a thorn garden. Will have to revisit in the Spring. 

Next adventure... driving to Albuquerque, NM and back in one weekend!

Another LA Experience

Last week in sunny LA we were experiencing a drought so we had no idea it would start pouring while we were at the outdoor venue at Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Jimmy showed up after the rain stopped to announce Sara Bareilles.

Once again, she was an amazing performer. She is so talented, adorable and down to earth. Getting soaking wet was worth it! Next talk show stop....Ellen!!

 

Puppy Post

Took this lil guy to the beach a few weeks ago down in Huntington Beach. I was so nervous to let him off the leash! He ran around like crazy, was terrified of the waves and ate a LOT of seaweed. All in all it was a good trip. Riggins loves playing with other pups and he wore himself out swimmin' all day.

Promising Myself to this City

Last Monday, Courtney came from Sacramento, picked me up in the city and then we went hiking just over the Golden Gate Bridge. 

I have never seen sights so beautiful! Being in the city is so much fun, but there is no similar feeling to being on one of the hills outside the city and seeing it all. 

Amazing, right!?

This was the path we took to get to Black Sand Beach

hiking up the hills of California

This picture made me feel like I was in Hawaii or some where equally as exotic...

So as Courtney and I stood on the top of the hills and looked all around us, we realized that this was one of the most beautiful places to live. Yes, it can be cold and that fog is always lurking, but where else can you have the city, the water and the mountains all around you!?

On the top of that hill, we made a promise to each other that if one of us wanted to leave California, that we'd remind one another the promise we made to stay and enjoy this amazing city. 

(We all know there would be only one thing that could take me away from here and he's looking at school in this area so hopefully we can stay!)

And to everyone who hasn't had the opportunity to see this area for yourself, COME VISIT NOW!

What A Weekend!

This past weekend was AMAZING! 

Not only am I in an awesome city with thousands of things to do and see, but I'm also getting great work experience and making new friends.

On Saturday, I took a tour on a double decker bus. Classic tourist move, I know. But it was actually kinda great. We saw almost all of the city and I learned a lot of interesting facts about locations and buildings (I'm into the kinda stuff). Add tour guide leader to the list of my potential jobs.

Golden Gate Bridge with my summer roommate

View of the city and the sea lions from Fisherman's Warf

So to make this weekend even better, Jake called me Thursday night and told me he was gonna try to fly in on Saturday morning! I was so excited, but like most stand-by flights, he wasn't able to make it :(

While on our tour of the city, I got a twitter notification and this is what it said:

Yes, I realize that I DO have the best boyfriend ever. This was such a great surprise!!

Jake and I spent the whole day Sunday exploring the city. First we went to the Haight Ashbury Street Festival, which was interesting, as are all things on Haight street. 

Next we went to the beach. It's not very warm here so we just looked, but I made Jake put his feet in the water because it was his first time to see the Pacific Ocean. 

What a cutie ;)

We ended the day by going on a romantic date in Little Italy. I've decided that this may be one of my favorite spot in San Francisco. Italian food and gelato? What more could a girl ask for??

After dinner, we decided to take a hike up one of the ridiculously steep hills, and I'm so glad we did!

The views from the top of the hill were amazing! I think we found our dream location (we'll be able to afford it in about 20 years!). The view of the hills and the bay were absolutely amazing.

It was sad to see Jake go at the end of the weekend, but like last week, this one has been very busy.

Hope you all had a great weekend as well and tomorrow another one is here!

More to Come

So being new to the city is exciting an fun! But being on a tight budget is a little bit of a challenge. Luckily I work with awesome people who told me about this website:

Fun things to do in San Francisco

SF is full of free festivals and events just about everyday and I'm excited to check some of them out!

I think tonight I might go to this one:

On Saturday I'm gonna be all touristy and see the San Francisco sites. I'll most likely be posting those pics later this weekend. 

Between work events, program events and my own explorations, my calendar for the month of June is really starting to fill up!

And here are a few beautiful sites I see everyday on my way to work and the grocery store

Bay Bridge





Church off of Church Street



One Way Ticket

Hello from the west coast!

I've been in San Francisco for three days now and it has been crazy/fun/tiring/amazing! 

I didn't start my internship till today so I spent yesterday exploring. There is so much to see and do here in the bay area that I'm sure it will take me years to do it all!

Here is what I've experienced so far:

Union Square

View from my bedroom window on the lucky number 13th floor.

Last night a couple of my new friends and I had drinks and watched the sunset at the top of a downtown hotel. The 360 degree view was absolutely amazing!

Today, after the metro and I had a misunderstanding, I arrived to work 20 minutes late. Fortunately, the people I work for at Hands On Gourmet are awesome and pretty laid back. After learning the ropes of the office/kitchen, I got to witness my first event. 

This is part of the kitchen area of the office. Once the participants learn to make a gourmet meal, they sit down and share the food "family style".

The AMAZING view right outside the window of the HOG kitchen. I don't think I'll ever get tired of seeing this everyday.

I don't get internet in my apartment unit, so I have to go to the 2nd floor lobby to access wifi. 

I'm going to try to stay consistent with my posts, but if they seem to be few and far between sometimes, that would be why. 

So much has happened in just the last few days and it's only Tuesday!

Can't wait to share more with you all!